Earth Wars 1: Tapestries
by BigRedCanuck
Summary: CHAPTER 4 is UP! Monday April 26th, 2004! What If Earth existed in the Star Wars Universe? How Would Earth and Her People, and one character in particular, fit into the story?
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note: A number of years ago I worked as a security guard at a movie studio on the west coast of Canada. Now, I won't say which one, or which shows we worked on, since it has no bearing here whatsoever. Anyways, I became friends with one of the writers of oneof th TV shows that were filmed there. One night over coffee I asked her how I could improve my writing skills.  
  
She gave me a writing excercise. She said to take /myself/ and try to write /me/ into a known story franchise. And to do it in a way that would make sense that I be there.  
  
So, after some thought, I wrote myself (And Earth) into the Star Wars Universe. This story takes place many years after ROTJ. There are no Yazuun Vong or whatever they are in this story since they weren't added to the continuity at the time. In fact, a lot of the stories of the past 65-6 years aren't represented here because they hadn't been written when I originally started writing this story. I will be endevouring to try and update this, however.  
  
I hope you enjoy the story as it grows and unfolds. It's been a long while since I wrote and maybe this will get me back into the swing of things. 


	2. Chapter 1 Runaway

Jordan's fingers flew over the controls. Vector jets spun the shuttle on  
  
it's axis, granting the ship the few inches it need to skirt the blaring laser  
  
fire barreling in on it from behind.  
  
This is crazy, Jordan cursed to himself. I have NO idea how to fly this  
  
thing beyond basic maneuvers and I'm only GUESSING at those. I'm not a fighter  
  
pilot. Hell I don't even know what half these controls do.  
  
But the other half were easier to comprehende. Thottles, targetting  
  
systems, weapons controls. They were almost like the video game controls back  
  
home.  
  
A tie fighter lapped the small vessel, it's laser fire glancing off the aft  
  
sheilds. The shuttle shook under the energy weapons attack. Jordan brought all  
  
forward batteries to bear on the fighter and let loose.  
  
The TIEfighter exploded in a blossom of fire. Jordan whooped in victory.  
  
But it was a hallow one. A large target appeared on his scanners, closing fast.  
  
An imperial small battle-crusier.  
  
Fear washed over Jordan. He'd die for sure. It was bad enough that he'd  
  
never even been in space but he wasn't even NEARLY familiar with such advanced  
  
technology. How could he hope to comprehende this ships controls.  
  
In frustration he slammed his fists on the controls. Space suddenly began  
  
to telescope infront of him. Within a matter of nanoseconds the shuttle was  
  
gone.  
  
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***  
  
"CHEWIE? Give me a reading on that plasma intake valve, would ya? I'll  
  
calibrate the engine exhaust."  
  
The wookie growled in compliance. Han hung upsde down, by his legs, with  
  
half his upper body stuck into the Falcon's engine core. Slowly he shut the  
  
iris seperating the mixture tank from the reaction chamber.  
  
The ship shook suddenly and Han dropped his hydro spanner down into the  
  
chamber. Sparks flew into the air.  
  
"CHEWIE!! TURN IT OFF. TURN..IT..OFF!!"  
  
The sparks ceased and Han could hear his wookie companion chuckling. He  
  
swung himself down to the deck and stormed into the control room.  
  
"What the HELL happened?" Han Roared.  
  
Chewie shrugged. The ship suddenly shook again.  
  
Han picked up on it soon enough. "Those were ION blasts. IMPERIAL Ion  
  
blasts."  
  
Running, he jumped into the cockpit. His scanner's lit up. Two ships had  
  
just emerged from Hyperspace. Two IMPERIAL ships."  
  
"Damn it," Han muttered, "Not now. We don't need this."  
  
The Falcon was currently docked to the underside of the New Republic  
  
diplomatic corvette "Democracy". Han put threw a message on the comlink.  
  
"This is General Solo to the Fleet. Two imperial ships have just exited  
  
Hyperspace. Repeat, Two Imperial Ships have just entered fleet proximty."  
  
A familiar voice entered the cockpit.  
  
"Confirmed, Han. This is Wedge. Rogue Squadron is on it."  
  
"Good. I'll notify the rest of the fleet to prepare for a jump to  
  
lightspeed. Solo, Out!"  
  
Han watched as a half dozen X-wings flew past the falcon to intercept the  
  
intruders. The Com-relays among the fleet picked up considerably as orders were  
  
being given to prepare for hyper-speed.  
  
Han watched as Rogue Squadron approached the first ship. The Falcon's  
  
Navi-Comp verified it as an Imperial Ambassadorial Shuttle. The Second ship was  
  
a Light Battle-Cruiser.  
  
That's funny, Han thought to himself, it looked almost like the crusier was  
  
firing on the shuttle.  
  
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***  
  
Wedge Antilles brought his X-wing about. The TIE fighter's launched from  
  
the cruiser seemed to be ignoring him, which was frightening in itself. Out of  
  
the entire galaxy there were only a half dozen people whom ANY imperial would go  
  
out if his way to kill. AND HE was number 6.  
  
Maybe these guys don't realize I'm a such a celebrity, Wedge joked to  
  
himself.  
  
Two tiefighters bore down on the shuttle, singeing it's surface with a  
  
volley of small cannon fire. Why the hell were they attacking they're own ship,  
  
Wedge thought.  
  
The shuttle let loose a volley of it's own but it was VERY badly aimed.  
  
The laser seared through space only to pass through areas which the TIE  
  
fighter's HAD been present seconds ago.  
  
That pilot is TOO slow, Wedge told himself, as if he's not used to high  
  
speed space combat. Even the most low ranking imperial scum could do better.  
  
Then it hit Wedge. The pilot most likely WASN'T an imperial.  
  
He radioed the rest of the Squadron, praying that his hunch was correct.  
  
"This is Rogue Leader to Rogue Squadron. That shuttle is NOT under  
  
Imperial control. Protect that shuttle at all costs. If the Imps want it THAT  
  
badly it must be important to them.. which means it's probably doubly important  
  
for us.  
  
A beam of energy lanced out from the cruiser and gripped the shuttle. A  
  
tractor beam. Rogue's Four and Two passed over the crusier's hull and blew out  
  
the emitter with a skillfully placed volley of torpedos.  
  
The emitter exploded, letting the shuttle loose. The small vessel drifted  
  
away, badly damaged.  
  
But before Wedge could act next, the cruiser's large ion cannon's swivelled  
  
and targetted the small shuttle. There was no way Wedge could stop it.  
  
A lance of blue-green laser fire passed over wedge and struck the cruiser  
  
cannon, blowing it off it's mount. The Crusier swung around to escape but  
  
another lance struck the engines.  
  
The ship blew apart like a small nova.  
  
With a sigh of relief, Wedge opened a com channel.  
  
"Thanks, Han" he said to his unseen acomplice.  
  
The Millenium Falcon pulled alongside the X-wing.  
  
"No problem, Wedge," Han replied, "All in a day's work."  
  
Chuckling, Wedge brought his craft about and circled the battered shuttle.  
  
"Han, Maybe you should dock with that thing and see if the pilot needs  
  
assistance. My readings tell me all life support has failed. He only has about  
  
Seven minutes left of air."  
  
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***  
  
Six minutes later the Shuttle's airlock slid open. Fresh air swooshed in,  
  
replaceing the smokey stale atmosphere.  
  
Han was the first to enter. His blaster was cocked and ready. Slowly he  
  
made his way around the compartment. It was empty.  
  
Cautiously he entered the cockpit. A prone figure lay sprawled over the  
  
console.  
  
He poked the body one with the barrel of his gun. It didn't move.  
  
Han flipped over the body. The pilot was human. Burn marks ran up the  
  
left half of his exposed body.  
  
He's only a kid, Han told himself.  
  
Chewie came into the cockpit. Han turned to him.  
  
"Chewie. Get this kid over to the Fleet's medical bay. I'll pilot this  
  
bucket of bolts back to the corvette. We'll dump it's core there and see just  
  
what the hell was going on."  
  
Chewie slung the boys body over his shoulder and went back to the falcon.  
  
A minute later the ship shuddered slightly as the Falcon undocked and made it's  
  
way back to the fleet.  
  
Han sat down in the pilot's seat and ran a diagnostic on the systsm.  
  
Everything seemed to be functional enough. As the captured shuttle began it's  
  
way to the fleet, Han brought up the navi-comps coarse-plot, tring to discern  
  
the shuttles point of origin.  
  
The display lit up with the information, though it was badly scrambled.  
  
Han scanned it with interest though. There was a name for the shuttle's planet  
  
of origin, but not much else. Not even a vector plot or course change schedule.  
  
"Earth, eh?" he said to himself, "Never heard of it"  
  
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***  
  
Leia entered the infirmary. Han and Wedge sat across from each other  
  
beside a bed. They seemed very deep in conversation.  
  
Her eyes fell on the unconscious young man in the bed. He seemed very  
  
young, maybe only a few years older than the twins. TOO young to be an imperial  
  
pilot.  
  
He had long blood-red hair in ratty braids and for the most part his skin  
  
was almost pearl white, except for the redness where the bacta treatments had  
  
been applied to the plasma burns.  
  
Han looked up at his wife and smiled. She came over and hugged him close.  
  
Han gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Worried, eh?" he joked.  
  
She gave him a mock scowl and sat down beside her husband. She glanced  
  
over at the young man.  
  
"How is our guest?" she asked.  
  
"Still unconscious," Wedge replied. "The injurys were bad but he's pretty  
  
much over them now."  
  
"Any Idea who he is or where he's from?" she asked Han.  
  
He shook his head. "From what we gathered from the shuttles cultural  
  
database he's from a planet called Earth."  
  
"I've never heard of it? is it a small human settlement?"  
  
"Uhh, not really. Unless you count Six billion people as a 'small human  
  
settlement'."  
  
Leia's mouth fell open. "That's impossible. You can't miss a spacefaring  
  
people of THAT population."  
  
"That's right," Han confirmed, "According to the shuttle's records, This  
  
planet Earth doesn't support a spacefaring culture. They only developed limited  
  
spaceflight about forty years ago."  
  
"But he's human...."  
  
Wedge cut in. "We know, but apparently his culture doesn't know anything  
  
about other space civilizations. We think Earth might be one of those coloney's  
  
that originally got cut off from the old republic and somehow lost all their  
  
technology."  
  
Leia looked at the man again. "IF they don't have space or superluminal  
  
travel then how the hell did he get ahold of an imperial shuttle and fly it  
  
here?"  
  
Wedge held up a small data tablet. "Apparently, one of the imperial  
  
warlord factions invaded his world three years ago. To this gut's people it was  
  
their 'first contact'. The Ammbassador soothed their suspicions and when these  
  
"Terrans", as they call themslves, were totlly unaware, the Empire took over."  
  
"And where is this 'Urth'" she asked her friend.  
  
Wedge scanned over the tablet. "About eight day's travel, straight, via  
  
hyperspace. No wonder this guy's engines were blown. Ships aren't supposed to  
  
make such long jumps."  
  
Leia stood up and walked alongside the bed. She pressed her hand against  
  
the boy's cheek.  
  
"Rest," she told the sleeper, "When you wake up we'll find a way to help  
  
you."  
  
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***  
  
Black turned to grey and grey turned to painful white.  
  
Jordan's eyes slowly drew open. The first thing he noticed was that he was  
  
no longer on the shuttle. But if he wasn't there then where the hell was he?  
  
Captured by imperials.  
  
He catapulted up and out of bed. At least that was his plan, but something  
  
stopped him.  
  
A man, probably 45 years of age and sporting flowing yet short dirty brown  
  
hair held his shoulder. Without thinking, Jordan punched him across the Jaw.  
  
The man fell back. Jordan was about to try and escape when a large, hairy  
  
creature grabbed him around the shoulders.  
  
The creature's strength was immense. Jordan struggled helplessly.  
  
A beautiful woman in a blue-white dress rushed over and placed a hand on  
  
Jordan's chest, seemingly tring to calm him.  
  
Confused, Jordan stopped struggling. The woman leaned down beside them man  
  
and helped him out. She checked him over like a wife checking her injured  
  
husband.  
  
She said something soothing to the man. He nodded, rubbing his Jaw.  
  
Jordan noticed his uniform wasn't an imperial one.  
  
Just who the hell WERE these people?  
  
The man spoke into a small device. A second later the doors slid open and  
  
a Gold-Plated robot strutted in.  
  
The Humanoid like machine spoke a few words to the woman. Jordan sure  
  
wished he knew what the hell they were saying.  
  
The robot moved to him next.  
  
"Greeting's," it said in perfect, slightly English accented, well, English,  
  
"I am See-Threepio, Human Cyborg Relations."  
  
This really threw him. Slowly, Jordan began to speak.  
  
"Look. I don't know WHO the hell you people are but I want.. no.. I NEED  
  
some answers right now."  
  
Threepio nodded. He walked over to the man Jordan had punched. The two  
  
spoke for a moment. Then the man took a small device from the robot and placed  
  
it on his lapel.  
  
He walked beside Jordan.  
  
"I am General Han Solo of the New Republic." he said.  
  
Jordan was stunned. FINALLY he could understand these people.  
  
"My name is Jordan" he told Han, "And I still don't know what the hell is  
  
going on here."  
  
The woman, now fitted with a similar device, joined in.  
  
"We rescued you from Imperial Forces," she said, her voice as lovely as her  
  
face, "We're no friends of the empire as well."  
  
"The New Republic? What the hell is that?"  
  
She looked at Jordan Curiously. "We're a commonwealth of over a thousand  
  
species and worlds. Just like your world is now, we too were under the empire's  
  
rule. But we defeated them. Small factions of the empire remain however, as  
  
you have discovered."  
  
Jordan nodded slightly. "I know. They came to us three years ago. They  
  
said they were friends and that they came in peace. But now we're nothing but  
  
slaves. We've tried to fight back but their too powerful. Oh my god.. so many  
  
of us have died."  
  
Jordan was almost on the verge of tears. Chewie let go and Leia hugged  
  
him. Han placed a hand on Jordan's shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry," she soothed him, "We're here to help you." 


	3. Chapter Two Touching Down

Chapter Two - Touching Down   
  
Three days later, the fleet returned to Corsucant. Within the hour, Han, Leia, Chewie and Jordan were all in the President's chambers.  
  
Leia sat behind her desk. The comchannel buzzed. She told her secretary to hold all incoming calls and to have Admiral Ackbar come to her office.  
  
Jordan sat down wearily on the large couch and sighed. Chewie joined him, since the couch was the only furnishing in the office sturdy enough to support him.  
  
Han poured a few glasses of Caf. He handed one too Jordan.  
  
Cautiously he took a sip. It tasted ALMOST like the stuff back home.  
  
A few minutes later the doors slid open and the strangest being Jordan had ever seen entered the office. He was vaguley humanoind but he had the head of a sea creature, red with big eyes. The creature bowed to the president.  
  
"Welcome home, Leia. I take it your trip was interesting enough?" the creature asked in a deep voice.  
  
Leia nodded. "Yes, Ackbar. It was enlightening to say the least. I take it you got my report."  
  
The admirable just nodded.  
  
"Good. Then I want you to make it a priority to find this man's  
  
homeworld." she pionted towards Jordan  
  
Ackbar walked over to Jordan and bowed.  
  
"Greeting's, Mr. Kincaid. I am Admiral Ackbar. Let me be the first to commend you for you brave actions.  
  
Jordan nodded. "Thank you," he paused, "Do you think you'll be able to find earth?"  
  
Ackbar shrugged "It's a big Galaxy, Mr. Kincaid. Eight day's by  
  
hyperspace could mean Earth is ANYWHERE. The actual co-ordinates were scrambled in the navicomp. I have my best splicer's working on it but... the outcome is not that hopefull.  
  
Jordan's head fell. "Then it's hopeless." he sighed.  
  
"Nonsense," Ackbar bellowed, "We'll look anyway we can. Granted we don't have many ships to spare but I've personally set aside a number of deepspace probes. It may take a long time, maybe even years, but we'll find Earth. I gaurantee it."  
  
The word years struck Jordan like a hard blow. Han tried to cheer him up.  
  
"Don't worry, Jordan. No matter what happens, at least you're among friends. Try not to worry too much."  
  
"But what am I going to do until we find my home?" Jordan asked.  
  
Ackbar supplied the answer. "Acording to these records and psych profiles the med-droids took on the ship, you are a very adept young lad. Like we've said, it's a big galaxy. When we finaly liberate your prople someone will have to teach them about all these new worlds, technologies, and species. For /you/ to be that teacher you'll have to learn a lot about universe around you. Things  
  
which, up until now, you probably thought weren't possible. Do you accespt such a challenge. It won't be easy, but..."  
  
"You're right," Jordan answered, "I /do/ have a lot to learn. Not just for my people but also for my self." He slowly stood up, straigtening himself I am willing to try."  
  
A man's voice entered the room. "Someone once told me 'Do or do not.. there is no try."  
  
Everyone turned around. A man in a dark robe entered the room.  
  
Leia ran up to the man and hugged him. "Oh Luke," she cried happily, "It's SO good to see you."  
  
Luke grinned. "Thanks. Oh, and Jaina and Jacen send their love."  
  
Han and Ackbar shook Luke's hand. Chewie almost crushed him in a hug. Jordan just remained seated.  
  
After a few mintes of familial sentiments, Luke truend and fixes his gaze on looked at Jordan. "Greeting's, Jordan. My name is Luke Skywalker. I am Leia's brother."  
  
Jordan took the man's offered hand. A strange feeling washed over him. Something about him was familiar, but he couldn't place exactly what.  
  
Luke looked at Jordan strangely for a moment as well, as if he was thinking the same thing, but then resumed his posture.  
  
"So," he said, "You're this 'new rebel'. I have heard a lot of good things about you."  
  
Jordan nodded. "Thank you. I'm sorry if I seem little zoned out, but I'm still getting used to all this space-hopping stuff."  
  
"Yes, I quite understand. I too used to be like you.." Luke grinned and his eyes went distant, as if lost in memory. Then his face went serious again as he focused on Jordan. "When I entered the room I heard Acbar's speech. I hope you accept his offer. It'll be hard but something tells me you're more than up to it."  
  
"Well. You'll have to give me time to consider consider my exact coarse of action.. and to rest. I barely even know you people, but you've all accepted me with open arms. But I think I'll go for it."  
  
Luke smiled warmly. "That's great. I know you'll do your best."  
  
Leia stood beside her brother. "Yes.. We'll have a lot to do but I'm sure it will work out for the best. Until then you are my personal guest. I'll have my secratary get you some personal quarters in the palace near ours, get you fitted for clothes, and set you up a personal line of creit for personal expendatures."  
  
For the first time in years, Jordan was overcome with happiness. "Thank you.. for everything. I don't know how I can ever repay you."  
  
Leia smiled. "Don't worry about it. We probably have just as much to learn from you as you from us. And that's payment enough." 


	4. Chapter ThreeSettling In Redux, Reformat...

=[ A/N It's been a while since I wrote so a) I apologize if this is boring and b) I apologize if this whole chapter seemed to not make sense.. Trying to get my muse back after a hectic winter. ]=-  
  
-=[ Chapter 3 - Settling In ]=-  
  
The bustle of the world-city of Coruscant spread it's spider like web of movement around Jordan as he stood on the balcony of his Palacial apartment. He closed his eyes, hands clenching the railing, and just let his mind wander, trying to make sense of everything that was happening around him.. That had happened around him.  
  
He had never imagined his life would change so dramatically in such a short time. From small town boy to starving artist in the city during college... To a slave under an alien Imperial regime.. To, finally, cosmic vagabond standing halfway (if not completely) across the galaxy in a building which must dwarf the Empire State building by a thousand times and was the home to the leader of government of a peaceful allied-ship of a thousand free worlds.  
  
Jordan inhaled deeply the strange industrialized smells of the city and it's flying vehicles assaulting his nose, yet not at all unpleasant to him. Earth, being industrialized itself though on a much cruder level of technology, had similar smells.. sometimes more acrid due to the continued use of fossil fuels.. but he had always associated the smells with life and endevour.   
  
Sure, he also appreciated the smells of nature, clean and tangy. Being born and spending the first half of his life in a small town in the Rockies, he had a great appreciation and respect for nature. But he knew that there was a balance between Nature and Progress of man.  
  
Balance... Was that what he was striving for now? Balance between what was and what he was becoming?   
  
He felt so /off/ balance right now. Caught between his memories of home and what he was experiencing now.. The similarities.. The differences.  
  
He had been in his apartments for two days now, since they had been given to him after his meeting with the alien Admiral Akbar (was it some cosmic joke that his species name was similar to Jordan's favorite seafood dish when he was a student) and the entire Older Generation of the Solo/Skywalker Family. He had received almost no visitors in the entire time here, except for Leia and   
  
Han at Dinner. The rest of the time they let him by himself to get 'Climatized'. They gave him access to the Holonet which was translated to English to him by an upload of a Lexicon they had managed to free from the Imperial Shuttle's non-navicomp related cultural database.   
  
The Holonet was an amazing thing to Jordan. Being no stranger to communications technology of any sort since that had been his initial interest in school, to see a network that seemed to mix the analogs of Cable and Broadcast   
  
Television Programming, Internet, and Telecommunications into one seamless galaxy spanning network in ways he could have only dreamed of was /not/ overwhelming.. In fact is was quite the opposite. These peoples of different species and evolutions shared something with his people.  
  
TV.  
  
And that was a good first step for him to come to a bit more ease at his current predicament.  
  
Not all that tired, he spent hours flicking through feed after feed of Holonet. News.. Educational Programming.. Documentaries.. Forums.. Entertainment.. Sports.   
  
He was half mesmerized, and sometimes amused, at how similar much of the fare was to good old Cable or Satellite. There were even infomercials detailing wonderful (and completely strange) products for a range of sentient (and not so human at time) beings.  
  
Like, who needed spray on hair for their Buttocks?   
  
Apparently some Wookies did.. Or so the Infomercial said.  
  
Every few hours Jordan would step away from the Holoscreen to stretch and walk around his apartment. It was a nice place, really. Okay, it was far greater then nice. It had numerous rooms. A large living-room that could probably comfortably seat well over a dozen guests of various sizes and shapes on couches and stools and chairs (at least he though a few of them /looked/ like chairs.). There was a rather good sized kitchen with many devices that surprised him as familar... Like a fridge and stove.. And, of course a few devices that he had no Idea how worked.   
  
The bedroom was a large affair, with a bed almost twice the size of the old used kingsized mattress he had once got from Value Village. He had two bathrooms, one in his bedroom and one in the hallway off the living room. There was also a guest room and a large room that may be an office.  
  
All in all, he was a bit in awe at the treatment he had gotten thus far. And a bit guilty. These grand rooms, though spartan in decor, were far grander then anything had had even before the coming of the Remnants of the Empire to Earth. And compared to the dorm like barracks he had been assigned after they came, it was enough to make him feel bad at how good he had it at this moment in time compared to all his friends and family.. To Humans on Earth in General.  
  
But any guilt or remorse he felt was kept in check. He had a second chance now. A chance, however small, at making his life and those of his fellow Earthlings (Or Terrans as he should call himself since earthling sounded so.. 50's.) a better one.  
  
So he would walk back to the Holoscreen and startviewing and searching again, trying to get the big picture of his new world (or worlds).  
  
On the Third morning of his self imposed hermatige he awoke to a chime at his door. Having been up early after a small breakfast of something that looked like waffles, he was already dressed and his braided red hair was tied back in a top-knot so he was, at least, presentable. He didn't, however , have any idea whom would be calling on him at this early hour. Maybe it was one of the 'Guards' that had been standing outside for the past few days at Leia's request.. Not guards to keep him in so much, per se, but more like to keep the rabble out.. Whatever rabble there would be, anyways, since he doubted his existence on this world was known that much.  
  
Pulling at his black button down shirt which had what he could only call an oriental collar, Jordan walked up to the door and depressed the release mechanism. letting the metal slab slide open.  
  
Han Solo stood just outside, dressed casually (or what, by the few fashion articles Jordan had picked up on the holonet could /consider/ casual) in a Beige-ish white shirt under a black vest and blackish grey pants with a thin red line running up the outer seams of the thighs. The Ex-Smuggler-turned-general-turned-husband-of-the-leader-of-the-republic grinned at Jordan and nodded a greeting at the young man.   
  
"Good Morning, Jordan." he said, stepping through the door and into his apartment. He looked around a moment and smiled even more. "Say, I love what you've done with the place." He said deadpan.  
  
Jordan snorted and shut the door behind Han, then chuckled and shook his head. "Thanks, Mr. Solo." he said wryly, then led Han into the Living room. The Holoscreen was showing two different programs at once in split screen. On the Left was a documentary on Pod Racing, now banned for almost 25 years. On the right was a Cooking show hosted by a colorfully dressed mon Calamari who was preparing Kelp into a dish that looked suspiciously like Spaghetti.. but green.  
  
Hand grinned and also shook his head now. "You know, that will rot your brain." he told Jordan as the young Terran offered him a seat.   
  
Jordan Just shrugged, still smiling, and walked into the kitchen. "Maybe," Jordan admitted as he started pouring two mugs full of Caf, a drink that was a lot like Coffee to him, though in some-ways stronger. "But I need to start somewhere. And starting at the walls all day was getting tiresome."  
  
Five minutes later they were both seated, Han leaning back on the couch and relaxing with his mug, Jordan in a large reclined with his feet kicked up on a footstool. They drank their Caf silently, letting it waken them slowly. Finally Han sat up straighter, setting his caf down on the coffee table, and regarding Jordan.  
  
"Look, I was wondering if you'd like to get out for a bit." he told Jordan. "I mean, I know you've just got here and all.. But You're young and even after all the junk you've been through I'm sure you're getting Cabin fever." He motioned around him with his hands. "You have a whole world to see. And you can't really do anything to help Ackbar right now find your planet. So why not go out and.. live a bit."  
  
Jordan stared at Han a moment... his gaze falling somewhere well beyond the Millenium Falcon's Pilot's personage. Han recognized that look... Like he was trying to figure out something in his mind which he wasn't sure about.  
  
Han leaned foreward and looked straight into Jordan's eyes, breaking that far-seeing gaze. "Jordan. You need to get out." he told the young man softly. "The more you stay inside here, the more chance you'll start brooding over what you can't change or help at the moment. Leia doesn't want you falling into 'shock', as she calls it. And the only way /I/ can see around it is to get your off your butt and outside.. If just for a little while at first. Okay?"  
  
And for yet another moment, Jordan stared.. But this time it wasn't past Han. Now it was directly at the older and roguish man. Finally he sighed and smiled weekly. "Okay." he said. "I leave myself to your tender mercies. I can't learn about the world by watching the TV, can I Mr. Solo?" he asked.  
  
Han rolled his eyes and pointed a finger at Jordan. "Fine, but there are two thing you have to do for me before we go."  
  
"Okay, what?"  
  
Han smirked. "First off, call me Han. Mister Solo was my father."  
  
Jordan grinned. "And the second?" he asked.  
  
Han picked up his caf and peered over the rim of the mug at Jordan.  
  
"Tell me what the hell TV is." 


	5. Chapter Four The Scenic Route

The speeder slowly banked as it weaved its' way through midmorning 'traffic'…  Traffic being only a relative term because to Jordan as it was more like a holding pattern that planes made over congested airports rather then actual cars which, to him, were meant to stay on the ground and not some thousands of feet above it.

Han handled the sporty little speeder like a pro, which the young human guessed he was.  If he could fly that Millenium Falcon through humongous space battles nearly unfettered, as numerous Holonet documentaries had suggested, then surely he could drive a flying car though a crowded sky between a billion other flying vehicles and miles high towers with the ground so far beneath them it was hidden in fog and shadow.

Jordan's hand tightened on the handle the car's designer had graciously built just above his head in the small cabin.  He thanked god for small gifts of parallel automotive evolution.  

"So…  This is normal for you?" he asked Han, his eyes shut and teeth clenched as they bank steeply around a silver and glass tower.  He didn't want to know just how close they had come to it's gleaming surface.

The Corellian grinned, not that Jordan could tell from behind his eyelids though he could tell by the timbre of his voice.  "Not really.  Usually Leia's functionaries fly me around.  When I venture out at all, that is."  He leveled off the speeder, only one hand on the 'wheel', the other hanging out the window in an absurdly familiar fashion.. As if this was some pleasant country drive to him in some ground-bound sports coup and not a kamikaze suicide flight as Jordan felt it was.  "But sometimes I like to go out alone.  Usually  take the family speeder, since usually Chewie is with me and it's big enough to carry him.  But I have this little gem lying around and since you don't need a larger seat like a Wookie would…"

Jordan nodded, daring to open one eye to peek.  The traffic around them had thinned out considerably..  And the towers were a bit farther in between then before.  Must be the burbs, Jordan thought.

Finally the young, and thoroughly traumatized, young human took a deep breath he hadn't realized he had been holing for a long, long time. He settled more confidently into the bucket seat and looked at his 'tour guide'.

"So, where are we going?" he asked, curiously.

Hand shrugged, eyes still glued to the road.. er.. sky.  "Nowhere really," he said, motioning to the city around them, "I just thought maybe you'd like to see the world a bit.. and talk."

Talk?

"Talk?" Jordan repeated, this time by words rather then hidden thought.  "Talk about what.

"About what you are going to do."

Jordan still apparently didn't seem to understand.  Han could tell by the furrow of the red brows.  "What I mean, Jordan, is that you can't sit in your apartment glued to the holonet all day.  You said you wanted help, and I realize you need to acclimatize, but for all you know Akbar and his people could find Earth tomorrow."

"Or in ten years." Jordan pointed out.. miserably.

Hand sighed and gave his companion a side glance.  "True..  But that doesn't mean you should sit around just.. staring in shock and wonder.  You're here now.  In the greater galaxy.  You should be thinking about not just existing here..  But /living/ here.

Jordan frowned even more.  "You think I should be giving some thought to being more.. active?" he asked, cautiously.

Another nod from Han.  "Oh yeah.  Definitely.  You have a great opportunity here.  You're a smart individual.  You need to start making a life for yourself.  Get out there.. Get known."

"Uhm.. Why?"

Han turned completely away from looking out the windshield and stared hard at Jordan.  "you mean beyond the fact that I said you have an incredible opportunity to further yourself or your people, /when/ we find them."  He emphasized the when.  "Because when you finally get home, you are going t need help rebuilding your planet and society."

"But wouldn't the New Republic do that Anyways?"

Han rolled his eyes.  "Kid, listen.  I have a lot of faith in the government and all.."  Oddly, Jordan found a Han's words heavily laced with sarcasm /and/ sincerity, both. "But you can't leave it to a government to single-handedly rebuild your planet.  One, it's very expensive.  Two, there are hundred of other worlds in the Republic and while  am sure even now Leia is somehow working to ensure aid for you and your people, you can't be singled out as a special case."

Jordan sighed and closed his eyes again.  "So, what else can I do?" he asked, sounding a bit dejected.

At this Han's eyes twinkled faintly.. almost mischievously.  "You know anything about business and politics?" he asked.

Jordan opened his eyes again and stared… shaking his head slowly. "Uhm.. No."

Suddenly Han banked the speeder tightly, the slight increase in g-force pressing Jordan into the cushions. "Hey, what are you doing?" he exclaimed, hand whiteknuckled on the handle above is head.

Hand didn't look at Jordan, but his smile was even wider then before.  "I said that the New Republic wouldn't be able to help you with /everything/," he reminded the young redheaded human, "But, like everything else, you can get help from multiple sources.  But to learn what those sources are, and how to use them, you need an education.  On how the galaxy works."

"And you're to be my teacher?" Jordan asked, skeptically?

The ex-rebel shook his head.  "No, not entirely.  Some parts.  Some of it can be taut by Leia.  Some by Threepio or Luke…Hell, even some by holo or computer..  But  I can think of only one man who could probably take all you learn and show you how to put it all together into something useful?"

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "And who would that be?" he asked.

Han's grin was becoming Infectious.

"When you were searching the Holonet, did you come across the name Lando Calrissian….?!?"


End file.
